Ohio voter information

Election days and polling hours

Early voting

Early voting begins 35 days before an election. Registered voters can request an absentee ballot through the mail or in person from their county board of elections.

Qualifications to register to vote

You are qualified to register to vote in Ohio if you meet all the following requirements:

You are a citizen of the United States.

You will be at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election.

You will be a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before the election in which you want to vote.

You are not incarcerated (in prison) for a felony conviction under the laws of this state, another state or the United States.

You have not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court.

You have not been permanently disfranchised for violations of the election laws.

You are eligible to vote in elections conducted in your voting precinct more than 30 consecutive days after you are properly registered to vote in this state.

Registering to vote

You may obtain a registration application form in person, and register in person, at any of the following locations:

The office of the Secretary of State or any of the 88 county boards of elections.

The office of any deputy registrar of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Offices of designated agencies that provide public assistance or disability programs.

Public libraries.

Public high schools or vocational schools.

County treasurers' offices.

You also may ask a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office to mail a registration form to you. You may download a form from the Secretary of State's website: http://www.sos.state.oh.us.

Ohio has a 30-day voter registration requirement. If you register to vote by mail, your properly completed and signed registration application may be mailed to any of the aforementioned locations, except the offices of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles or its deputy registrars, and must be postmarked not later than the 30th day before the first election in which you want to vote.

If you are an Ohio voter who has moved within this state and/or changed your name, you must report the change by delivering a properly completed form, prescribed by the Secretary of State, to any of the following offices: the Secretary of State, any board of elections, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, the office of the county treasurer, any office of the registrar or deputy registrar of motor vehicles, or the state or local office of a designated agency. You may obtain a change of residence and/or name form from the offices listed above, and from the probate court and the court of common pleas of any Ohio county.

You may check your voter information at www.sos.state.oh.us. If you perform a Voter Information search and the information you registered is returned, then your voter registration form has been processed by your county board of elections. If your information is not returned in the search, you may want to contact your county board of elections to check on the status of your registration. You may also be able to check through your county board of elections' website, although not all county boards have a link to the registration files.

Registration deadlines

Deadline to register for the May 4 Primary Election is April 5.

Deadline to register for the Nov. 2 General Election is Oct. 4.

Voting in the Primary Election

You may vote the primary ballot of the political party with which you currently wish to be affiliated. If you voted the primary ballot of a different political party in a previous year, you will complete a statement at your polling place confirming the change in your political party affiliation.

You may vote on ballot issues at a primary election without declaring party affiliation by requesting an "issues-only" ballot.

Identification requirements

Voters must bring identification to the polls in order to verify identity. Identification may include a current and valid photo identification, a military identification that shows the voter's name and current address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document, other than this reminder or a voter registration notification, that shows the voter's name and current address.

Voters who do not provide one of these documents will still be able to vote by providing the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number and by casting a provisional ballot. Voters who do not have any of the above forms of identification, including a Social Security number, will still be able to vote by signing an affirmation swearing to the voter's identity under penalty of election falsification and by casting a provisional ballot.

Where to vote

If you do not know where your precinct polling place is located, contact your county board of elections. If you have access to the Internet, you may visit the Secretary of State's website, http://www.sos.state.oh.us, for the location of your polling place.

Absentee voting

Absentee voting begins 35 days before primary and general elections and -- except for voters hospitalized due to emergencies -- ends the day before the election. Once absentee ballots are available for voting, an absentee voter may receive and return the ballot in person at the county board of elections office, or receive and return the absentee ballot by U.S. mail.

Any qualified Ohio voter may request an absentee ballot without stating a reason. The ballot must be applied for in writing. If you are properly registered to vote, you must submit your written request to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located.

Regular absentee voters (other than militia, armed services, overseas or provisional voters) must submit a written application that contains all of the following information:

Your name

Your signature

The address at which you are registered to vote

Your date of birth

A statement identifying the election for which you are requesting an absentee voter's ballot

A statement that you are a qualified elector;

If the request is for a partisan primary election ballot, your political party affiliation.

If you want the ballots to be mailed, the address to which you want them mailed.

Active duty members of Ohio's organized militia (Ohio Air National Guard, Ohio Army National Guard, Ohio Naval Militia and Ohio Military Reserve, collectively) can submit applications that contain all the information required of regular absentee voters and either the address to which the ballot is to be mailed or the fax number to which it is to be faxed.

An absentee application may be submitted on the behalf of an active duty member of Ohio's organized militia by one of the following relatives: your spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister of the whole blood or half blood, son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece. Your relative must use the application prescribed by the Secretary of State (Form 11-C) available from the board of elections. This application, which must be signed and sworn to by your relative ("the applicant"), must contain all the following information:

Your full name

A statement that you are a qualified elector in the county

The address at which you are registered to vote

Your date of birth

A statement identifying the election for which the absentee ballot is requested;

A statement that you are a member of the organized militia serving on active duty outside your Ohio county of residence;

If the request is for a partisan primary election ballot, your political party affiliation;

A statement specifying the applicant's relationship to you;

The address to which ballot is to be mailed or fax number to which it is to be faxed;

The signature and address of the person making the application

The applicant's notarized statement attesting to the validity of the application.

Absentee deadlines

To receive your absentee ballot:

By mail: Unless you are a member of the U.S. armed forces, you must mail your properly completed absentee ballot application bearing your original signature to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by noon on May 1 for the May 4 Primary Election and by noon Oct. 30 for the Nov. 2 general election. Voters are advised, however, to submit requests as far in advance of the election as possible.

By fax: If you are a member of the U.S. armed forces or organized state militia, you may fax your absentee ballot request to the board of elections in which your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by noon on the Saturday before the election. You may request that the board fax your ballot to you, but you must return your marked ballot by mail.

In person: You may go to the board of elections office during regular business hours after absentee ballots are available for voting, but no later than the day before the election, and request, receive and vote your ballot at the board office.

In hospital on Election Day: Regardless of where you are hospitalized, you must submit a properly completed and signed request to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located by 3 p.m. on Election Day. To be eligible under this provision, you must be confined in a hospital because of an unforeseeable medical emergency. Your application must specify where, why and when you came to be hospitalized. If you are hospitalized in the same county where you are registered to vote, two representatives of the board of elections can deliver the ballot to you, wait while you mark the ballot, and return your voted ballot to the board office. Additionally, you may include in your absentee ballot application a request that your county board of elections give your unmarked ballot to a designated relative -- your spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter, adopted parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece -- who shall deliver the ballot to you in the hospital and return your voted ballot to the board office.

For your absentee ballot to be counted, it must be received as follows:

If cast from anywhere in the United States, whether returned in person or by mail, your ballot must be received by your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

If properly returned from out-of-country, your ballot must be received by your county board of elections not later than the 10th day after the election.